In the manufacture of commercial airplanes, a large number of wires are run throughout the airplanes connecting various pieces of electronic equipment. Typically, the wires are run together in bundles to form a wiring harness, and the wiring harness is secured to the structure of the airplane by means of clamps. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations require wiring harnesses to be securely fastened within the clamps so that the individual wires of the harness are held firmly in close engagement with each other. This helps prevent damage to the wires caused by abrasion between the wires and their supports.
Clamps for securing wiring harnesses and bundles of wires are generally well known. One type of such clamp is known as a P-clamp, which comprises a mounting bracket having a loop portion and two extensions extending from the ends of the loop portion. The extensions align with one another and have aligned openings for receiving a fastener for securing the clamp to a structure. The loop portion of the P-clamp is not adjustable and because of this, P-clamps are made in a variety of sizes to accommodate wiring harnesses of different sizes.
With the P-clamp, because the mounting fastener is used to close the bundle of wires, individual wires cannot be added or removed from the clamp while the clamp is fastened to a structural member. In order to add or remove an individual wire or wires, the P-clamp must be demounted from the structure. Likewise, while a wiring harness is being created, the harness cannot be supported on the structural member by a P-clamp. If wires are added to or removed from a bundle, resulting in a change in the bundle's size, the P-clamp must be exchanged for one of different size.
Another type of clamp is known as an "alligator clamp." An alligator clamp includes a flexible C-shaped loop portion and a base portion extending from the back side of the loop portion. The base portion is mounted to a structural member to secure the clamp. The ends of the C-shaped loop are spaced from each other for the addition or removal of wires from the clamp. The ends of the C-shaped loop are closed by a nylon wire tie, or the like. Although an alligator clamp can be mounted to a structural member without being closed, the loop portion of the alligator clamp is open completely when the nylon wire tie is not fastened thereto. This arrangement allows individual wires to fall out of the clamp as the wiring harness is being created and, subsequently, when wires are added to or removed from the clamp.
Other types of clamps are disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,169,005, of I. D. Wallach, entitled, "Resilient Sheet Material Bracket to Support Wires", issued Feb. 9, 1965; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,228, of Delserro et al, entitled, "Self-Tightening Clamp", issued May 8, 1979. The Wallach patent discloses a split sleeve wire bracket having a looped portion and a leg portion formed integrally from a sheet of plastic or other suitable material. The looped portion forms a complete circle to close on itself for securing a plurality of wire strands or cables. The bracket disclosed by this patent is not adjustable to accommodate wire bundles of varying diameter.
The Delserro patent discloses a self-tightening clamp having a first, counter-clockwise curved portion and a second, clockwise curved portion, with the second curved portion encircling the first curved portion. The second curved portion has an extension, and the clamp is provided with a base, wherein the end portion of the base is adapted to be secured to the end portion of the extension. Securing of the extension to the base causes the second curved portion to contract the first curved portion, thereby reducing its diameter. Like the P-clamps, the clamp disclosed in the Delserro patent must be demounted in order to allow for the addition or removal of an article from within the first curved portion.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed toward a wiring harness clamp that is adjustable in size and which provides for the easy addition or removal of wires from the clamp without the necessity of demounting the clamp, and which is designed to hold the wires in its unclamped mounted position. While the present invention is particularly well suited for clamping wiring harnesses, it is believed to have general utility for holding a variety of articles. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the present invention be limited to wiring harnesses.